SALLY SANTANA | Keep your eyes open to giving, not just getting

Keep your eyes open to giving, not just getting

My son Gabriel is scheduled to have cataract removal surgery this month. For a long time now his vision has been a problem for him. Because he went for 10 years — from the time he was 18 to 28 — without any medical or prescription coverage as an insulin-dependent diabetic (after he left my insurance he never had employment that paid enough for him to buy any) he developed debilitating heart, kidney, eye, and other physiological conditions.

Having gone through cataract surgery in both eyes myself, I've been telling him how things will change for him once the Vaseline-like smear of yellow over his vision clears; how green the trees are, how you can see the veins in a leaf; how much more magnificent the smile of a toothless infant is; how much easier it is to read and not struggle to define the letters.

Your world can change when you alter or remove filters from your vision, or your thinking.

I'm reading a book of daily reflections titled "A Book of Wonders" by Edward Hays, and on one particular day he writes, "Whenever you're struggling with some problem, you're likely to hear that small voice telling you: 'Be realistic, grit your teeth, and do what is practical.' Instead, consider being imaginative and explore the undiscovered possibilities of your problem, which is to see with double vision. Look first at what appears as reality and then look for what isn't immediately visible, what is creatively hidden in the situation. Often a compromise between an optimistic and a practical solution can be the most beneficial. I keep on my desk a bit of wisdom from a Chinese fortune cookie: 'In every disappointment lies hidden something of equal or greater value."

It has to do with focus, perception, and comprehension.

In 2 Cor. 4:18 we read, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen since what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal."

What kind of eyes, what kind of vision is being referred to here?

It's telling us to not find so much of our happiness in the getting, but more in the giving; to not set our sights on the acquisition of material goods to the point we close our eyes to the pain of our neighbor and fail to reach out; to not be so concerned about the recognition and advancement that the world can give, but to what lives eternally — love, gratitude, compassion, forgiveness, hope, mercy, generosity. "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be, too."

This is the fruit of wisdom; spiritual wealth which can't be lost to fire or flood, but that which lives on long after our bodies have gone to dust.

"Wisdom is radiant! and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her and is found by those that seek her." (Wisdom 6:12) "Seek first the kingdom of God (seek God's wisdom) and all else will be added to you." (Mt. 6:33)